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May is the 14th annual Bike Month NYC, but there are activities that start before May is officially here. The events, sponsored by Tra nsportation Alternatives and Department of Transportation, can be seen on this calendar, and they range from viewing an exhibit of bike paintings at the Brooklyn Brewery to a blessing of bicycles at St. John the Divine, or a bike repair workshops and bike celebrations with Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. And, of course, this Sunday, May 1, it's the Five Borough Bike Tour - 42 miles without traffic!
Related: Time's Up!, the organization that has organized publicized the Critical Mass rides, is facing $30,000 in legal fees and is looking for help - from dontations to letters to local politicians. More information here. [Via Mark]
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If those Critical Mass bikers didn’t terrorize the streets every month with their reckless riding, maybe, just maybe I would give a shit.
Follow the rules of the road and maybe they'll get more support.
Kojak:
AMEN
Yo. I'm getting sorta fat from eating a lot of pizza. I need to start riding a bicycle around. Where's a good place to buy a bike in this city? Like, not some crazy Manhattan place, either, where I'd just be paying their rent. (I gotta save my dough for slices.)
Critical Mass is not 'organized' by Time's Up! It's not organized by anyone. It happens once a month in cities across the world. The city is picking on the volunteers who work at Time's Up! because they are easy scapegoats. And while yes I agree that some Critical Mass rides have gotten out of hand, you have to look at this in the bigger picture in terms of the ridiculous legal precident the city is trying to create here. When more than 20 people can't gather without a city permit for anything, obnoxious bike ride or whatever, I think our country is in deep trouble.
Who cares about Critical Mass the bike ride!!! I'm more worried about the critical mass accumulating around my waist and ass. Now: If you biking hippies want to get one more person on a bike, give me the name of a good bike shop!
Terrorize the streets??? Are you fucking joking? When is the last time someone on a bike caused total havoc on a block on 42nd St and hospitalized a 8 1/2 month pregnat woman?
adam, you can always try craigslist. or come pick up one of the old bikes chained to my building. they might need serious rehab, but we're going to throw them out anyway.
good alternative for craig's list, especially if you want a beater bike (which i highly recommend if you're going to be biking in new york, where the curbs are high and the bike thieves are robust): recycleabicycle.org
they've got an outpost in the east village, and in dumbo. check website for addresses. good group - they train kids to fix bikes, then take donated bikes and sell them to you. so you get a cheap ($100 or so) bike, in good working order, and you don't have to worry about buying a stolen bike (common occurence via craig's).
Awesome! Thanks, Tien and BikeBoy.
Well, yeah. Taxi cabs go without saying. They're the worse.
Critical Mass = Extreme Annoyance/Public Nuisance
NYC Taxi's = Death on Wheels + If your Black, No Taxi for you!
One of the best things about the Five Boro Bike Tour is gone. From their rules and security page:
"NO TAKING PHOTOS ON NYC BRIDGES!!!
Please, no photos on New York City’s bridges or their access points. Your camera could be confiscated."
The only time each year when people got to take good pictures of Upper NY Bay from the Verrazano Narrows bridge, among others, but that's gone.
Hey Gothamist:
You all usually do a good job of getting it right. This time you didn't. It's statements like "Times Up!, the organization that has organized the Critical Mass rides" that help give the city a case. Times Up! does not organize critical mass. This is the city's false allegation. This bogus case must be dismissed, but it won't be if public opinion reinforces the city's incorrect position. Please correct the piece.
i'm sorry you're scared of a few 25 lb bikes on the street... it's pure terrorism, isn't it kojak? i know you've read the previous arguments here and apparently you're just chompin at the flame-bait bit.
Of Course hijiki! Flame wars make for interesting comments.
25 Pound Bike + 165 Pound Asshole = 190 Pound person riding in excess of 25 mph. Thats something everyone should be afraid of
Wow, Captain Midnight. Good catch re: pics on and of bridges during the 5BBT. I'm riding in that on Sunday and plan to have my camera with me. We'll see about their little rules : )
Wow Kojak, 190lbs coming at me at 25mph...scary! What alternative plane of reality are you living on? Just how does that even compare to the millions of multi-ton SUVs clogging our streets everyday?!? Or are you from LA, and just miss the sweet smell of fossil fuel?.
Kojak gets the bozack!
have you ever seen critical mass move any faster than 10mph, kojak? anyway, the bikers are on the street (not the sidewalk) for a few minutes each month (you practically have to make an appointment if you want to be bothered by them) whereas cars weigh more, move faster, haul more assholes, and are buzzing by all the time. how many pedestrians are killed by bikes vs. cars? i think your fear is misplaced.
I've have been hit by a biker who didn’t watch where he was going in midtown. He went flying and I ended up with a nasty gash on my leg. If actually waiting for the red light to turn green for a change, it would've never happened. But hey! He was on a bike. That MUST give him some kind of godlike status on NY Roads.
I have seen Critical Mass bikers in action and believe me a lot of them ARE a pain in the ass, a few of them spew nonsense and curse at people in their way, like they own every road and sidewalk they ride on.
All I ask is that they follow the rules of the road and be respectful. That’s really not too much to ask.
And YES cars are bigger danger then any biker we all know that blah blah blah. If more bikers actually looked where they were going you wouldn’t see so many of them being pancaked to the asphalt.
haha... perspective. i've been knocked off my bike by at least 4 pedestrians in the past 5 years. in no case was the pedestrian hurt and i ended up with some considerable cuts and bruises. every single one of those was the pedestrian's fault. jumping out between cars, leading off against the lights, jumping into the bike lane to take a photo, etc. do i claim all pedestrians are oblivious idiots who deserve to die at the hands of my bike? do you think maybe respect and rule-following works both ways?
godlike? please.
Hey Kojak, I know you are trolling, but all the same, I broke my collarbone on a jaywalker, came out of nowhere, I had the light.
In Feb, I tried a "Courteous Mass" obey all traffic rules and such, got one block from the start, got pinched by the cops after waiting for the GREEN. I think bikers should be fined for breaking the law, not arrested and have their property siezed. But cops have a lot to do, with the MILLION red lights run by cars a day. ( that is the city's estimate) I am sorry you got hit by a biker, I have been hit and threatened by drivers and jaywalkers countless times. I admit there are moron bikers, (check them out, usually food delivery guys) but there are thousands more moron drivers, where by physics they are much more dangerous to you and me. Get your bike and come out to Crit Mass and realize what the city could be when not dominated by Single Occupant Vehicles and learn that one or two assholes do not represent the whole, and have fun riding.